Incest

Incest is the participation in sexual activity with, or marriage to, a close family member. Not only is this activity generally considered taboo and immoral, it is usually a criminal offence. Marriage and sexual behaviors are generally treated with the same consequences.

The place where the cultural differentiation occurs is in the definition of ‘close family member’. Some jurisdictions consider only those related by birth, some those related by adoption or marriage, while others prohibit sexual relations between people who grew up in the same households. In Western society the normal forbidden relationship line is drawn at first cousins, while anything further away is tacitly accepted.

In terms of slang or common usage, ‘incestuous’ can also refer to relationships in tight knit social groups, inappropriate close relationships between an authority figure and a subordinate, or between people in the same profession or creative field.

Incest finds it roots in historical creation mythology, and in social practices of societies all around the world. At the same time incest’s prohibitory social nature arises not only from our religious roots, but, as we will see, a biological imperative.

Western Society

Many American states recognize two separate degrees of incest, the more serious degree covering the closest blood relationships such as father-daughter, mother-son and brother-sister, with the less-serious charge being pressed against more distantly related individuals who engage in sexual intercourse, usually down to first cousins.

Despite the strong stigma attached to incest, even the more serious charge is generally prosecuted as the least severely-punishable class of felony (in New York state for example, the maximum penalty is four years in prison), and the less serious charge is usually only a misdemeanor. Curiously, many incest laws do not expressly proscribe sexual conduct other than vaginal intercourse (such as oral sex) or, for that matter, any sexual activity between relatives of the same gender - so long as neither party is a minor. This does not mean that the social ostracization that can occur as a result of such activities is not far greater than the punishment of the state.

This lenient legal position is in stark contrast with that in Australia, where incest is punishable by a maximum of 25 years imprisonment for the more serious form of penetrating a child (even if that “child” is over 18), and 5 years for the less serious charge of sexual penetration of a (half) brother or (half) sister.

Incest at its most immoral (according to western moral standards) is most frequently engaged in by parents of both sexes with their children. This is where incest can cross the line between consensual prohibited sex, and abusive pedophilia. A study by Floyd Martinson found that 10-15% of college students have had a childhood sexual experience with a brother or sister.

One of the few widely, but by no means universally, agreed upon lines in the sand is that incest by parents is abuse and should be discouraged. Despite this sentiment some societies still consider incest an inescapable fact of life. In many societies some forms of sexual contact between close family members is socially (and sometimes even publicly) acceptable and even encouraged.

Reasons for the Taboo

In looking at the motivation behind societal proscriptions against incest, it is important to look more for the general rules and less at the particular situation. Anthropologists studying the "incest taboo" have noticed that incest occurs in most societies, whether or not there is a prohibition against that activity; so the question of why we have societal rules against it in the first place becomes more important.

To more closely examine this question we will look at the three most prominent origin theories, and their counters of the incest taboo.

Genetic Argument

This theory is based on the observance of congenital birth defects caused by inbreeding. Anthropologists reject this explanation, as inbreeding does not lead to congenital birth defects per se; it leads to an increase in the frequency of homozygotes( in layman’s terms: the passing on of bad genes, magnified because people with similar genetic codes will have similar genetic defects).

Counter to this theory’s reasoning is that homozygote’s can lump potential defects together, effectively reducing the amount of defects in the population, and thus making it beneficial for the species. For example: if children born with this type of heritable birth defect die (or are killed) before they reproduce, the ultimate effect of inbreeding will be to decrease the frequency of defective genes in the population.

Another interesting note worthy of mention is that sexual stimulation has become a passtime; ie. its not just for making kids anymore.

Social Argument

Claude Lévi-Strauss has argued that the incest taboo is in effect a prohibition against same-group relationships (endogamy), and the effect is to encourage relationships outside the group (exogamy). Exogamy promotes the linking of otherwise unrelated households or lineages, thus strengthening social solidarity.

This theory was debated intensely by anthropologists in the 1950s. It appealed to many because it used the study of incest taboos and marriage to answer more fundamental research interests of anthropologists at the time about the mapping of social interactions. One of the primary dissenting opinions regarding this particular theory is about the origins of the social interaction. Since society has many different purposes and definitions around the world, how can the incest taboo be only a result of social bonds, when the taboo exists in places where socialized, cosmopolitan types communities don’t exist?

Religious Argument

Finally, there is a lot of belief that the incest taboo finds its origins in Judeo-Christian religious text. The biblical prohibitions against incest are quite pronounced and prolific. They appear in every major mono-theistic text for the last 4000 years. Some have even attempted to use this theory to explain the incest taboo in places where western-monotheistic religions didn’t exist. By looking at the silk trade and other influences of western society upon non-western groups, some experts have argued that this tenet was specifically strong and imprinted itself on other cultures.

This theory gains some legitimacy when used in conjunction with the above theories. If there is a social and biological imperative to avoid incestuous relationships, then any institutionalized and supposedly legitimate prohibition against such acts would be easily accepted.

Historical Incest

Ancient Egypt

There seems to be good evidence from experts (Egyptologists and historians on the subject) that suggest incestuous marriages were widespread during some, if not all of Egyptian history. This claim is supported by numerous papyri that recorded families having brother/sister unions. Apparently our cultural acceptance of the incest taboo led to academic skepticism by some, who felt it unlikely that the papyri actually were asserting that such a powerful civilization as Egypt, would have allowed the common violation of this taboo. This doubt in the validity of the records of common incestuous relationships has collapsed completely in the face of the cumulative evidence of scores of papyri.

There does appear to be legitimate doubts as to how long common incest occurred for in Egyptian history. There is evidence to suggest that at least within the royal family there was a tradition of hyper-gamy for men. This is where a king or his son might marry a commoner, but his daughter could not marry beneath herself, without the act be considered degrading. As a result, the royal princess often found herself either marrying her royal brother, or living her life without a spouse. Thus we see that incest may have been more ubiquitous amongst the lower classes or for women, than for higher stationed men. Proximity and lack of choices may in some instances have been the root of these widespread inter-family relationships.

Royal Dynasties

It is common knowledge of the prevalence of incest within royal families, and to some degree this is true. Adult incest within (European specifically) royal dynasties was probably encouraged to concentrate wealth and political influence within the family. This seemed to have worked financially but there is empirical evidence to suggest that at the same time this resulted in abnormally high instances of rare genetic defects and diseases.

Although the marriage unions were often not consensual, with young adults or children forced to marry close relatives, this does not imply the sex was non-consensual. Best known for this practice, which included brother-sister marriages, are some of the dynasties of Ancient Egypt (as suggested above), ancient Hawaii, and the Pre-Columbian Mixtec.

More modern dynasties where there was frequent familial intermarriage were the mid-Habsburgs - one branch ruled over Spain and the other over Austria. The Spanish branch died out in 1700, but the last Spanish Habsburg king, Carlos II had been married to María-Luisa of Orleans, grand-daughter of King Charles I of England and niece to King Louis XIV of France. However, over the last century, Kings Philip II, Philip III, and (for his second time) Philip IV all married their Austrian cousins. The Austrian branch continued to rule until 1918, and they are still alive and prospering today.

Is Incest Wrong?

As with most questions of this nature, we at SexInfo101.com believe it is a question that has no answer. We acknowledge that there are reasons many prefer to avoid the practice, but at the same time we acknowledge that there isn't very much evidence to support it being wrong.

My desire for my sister has been going on for so many years but never realized. So many years had passed and we are now both in the middle age. I am widowed and she, still single. I was able to persuade her, when she was a bit drunk to have sex with me. She didn't like the idea at first, but her resistance didn't make me stop to pursue my incessant desire. The next morning she felt so guilty as she was already sober. For some reasons though, I attempted again and her resistance was not as tough as before. She finally gave in and now our relationship gets better. She never had a man in her life, and I only had my sex experience with my wife who passed away a few years back. Incest isn't bad after all since we now both enjoy it with love.

hi just to say im a lesbian girl and have been 4 a few years, but when i was 11, me and my twin sister [also lesbian] would touch and finger each other at night and twice on the toilet. last week we kissed and i think me, my sister and gf will share each other from now on.

Incest is a horrible and disgusting thing. My older brother sexually abused and raped me. That is just wrong. I has caused all kind of mental problems, such as ADD like symptoms and an inability to sleep well. Incest is wrong and disgusting and horrible. Never even consider it.

While the argument that we are all related somehow is true, that doesn't make it biologically, morally and legally ok, neither erotically ok. How the hell could anybody get a hard on thinking of a family member?!?! Wtf?

Agreed! However, in movies/tv, it's totally ok. In fact, I think the twin incest on Game of Thrones is super hot, but that's just because the actors who play them aren't bad to look at. In real life, that stuff isn't hot. The closest I've come is to sexting with my brother's best friend, who I've described as "like a brother" to me.

I have to say this...everyone on here saying it's wrong and gross...well I hate to tell you, but you need to stop having sex. During the last ice age many homosapiens were killed off. It's a bottle neck. The genetic pool decreased...oh and there is no 2 people in the world who are not more distantly related then 50th cousin. It's a scientific genetic fact! Thats right...your wife, your girlfriend your one night stand, boyfriend husband etc. IS RELATED TO YOU!

okay there seems like its a bunch of adults and teen glorifing sex in a easy manner what could be more eassyer in the search department heck lets go with my sister or brother or nice or newphew truth im a product of mannnnyyyy generations of family incest im the last born in the female my newphew the last born in the males let me tell u what happens to kids born by product of incest first of they well be born with low or barely no emmunity what so ever they well have a mind forever like a child under develop there bodys well not be strong to support them in long life term i have lived inside of a hospital my whole entire life almost near death evry time low kidney infection emmonia there constantly infection i have to beat anything contagious i have to beat in a nut shell i cannot be like evryone as my body dosent function like evryone else now i just found out im diagnose with a dissease that wired in my dna trought incest its all by symptoms that slowly kills you a slow painful death i well forever endure as there no cure for it just meds and therapie to releave pain for a short the dissease is calld klippel - feil what it dose is my neck and spine well slowly break until metal the only thing holding me up my nerves well slowly shrink untill no longer working once that done and in a wheel chair my major organs heart brain liver and kidney are next they will shut down try and imagine for a second your or your daughter or son or both going trought that try and imagine the damage that puts on child going trought this ordeal and abuse the minds heart wise soul wise it kills u it disgusted and forver have to carry burden so before u guys glorify this like a teenage and those who are teenage u may want to think about what u are doing to that persone and the life the child well have once she born trought incest u guys are THEY SCUM OF THEY EARTH AND SHOULD BE PUT ALLLLLL IN JAIL FOR LIFE !!!!!!

i have a female cousin, 13 years older. old enough in fact to have been my babysitter when i was little.

i was 40, divorced, and at a family holiday party.
everyone had been drinking heavily, her husband had to go to work on midnite shift, i said i'd take her home.
when we got ready to leave, she proceded me up the stairs, stopping several times and shaking her pantyhose covered ass in my face.
i helped her into my truck, and we headed towards her house. she 1/2 passed out, and was laying across the center console when i felt her hand reaching for my cock, i figured i'd just let it go. soon her head was bobbing up and down on my shaft, and she was stroking me. she stopped long enough to ask me to pull over into a parking lot before she got home.
she was doing her best to get me to cum in her mouth, but i wanted to fuck her. she got in the back seat, and i followed, i pulled up her skirt, ans started licking her pussy through her pantyhose. i asked her if i could fuck her, she hesitated but finally agreed, i tried to remove her pantyhose, but ended up just ripping them off between her legs.
i was greeted by a nicely trimmed pussy covered in fine red hair, i licked and sucked til my tongue was tired, and eased my cock toward her waiting pussy.
the deeper i pushed the more the gasped, i was fucking her deep and slow, she was soaking wet and starting to cum, so i hackhammered her, and we both exploded at the same time.
i dropped her off at home. i saw her again several months later, she pulled me aside, thanked me for servicing her, and giving her masterbation fantasies for weeks mentioning, giggling, she had to get rid of the dress she had been wearing, the cum stains wouldnt come out of it.

i need help, i have had fantasies about fu***** my brother, my mum, my sister in law, my auntie and cousins. i am bi and only young and at my aunties house we were watching telly and ended up talking about sex and she started rubbing my pants, we ended up doing it and we really hit it off, we always do it! and one of my cousins gave me head(guy). i want to do it with my brother but dont know how to tell him. at family occasions we have naked parties, we are all comfortable in the nude and are comfortable with incest. Am i normal?

I dont carr what anyone says, it is human nature to be attracted to siblings and family members. It happens in many animals and all around nature. If you are comfortable and willing there is nothing wrong with it. If you were raised to think that is gross, then thats what you will think. It is the common nature vs nuture debate and in your heart only you know the answer. Good luck

wow surprised there are so many people thinking it is ok to have sex with their sister or brother. Whats wrong with you people there are billions of people on earth its not like when it happens in nature by accident because the gene pool is so small it happens as a matter of course. It is wrong because nature as a whole intends for us to procreate with different gene pools so to AVOID physical defects and abnormality. There are animal species that are dwindling away because of incest ( Lions for example) are often a victim of this and it never leads to a stronger gene pool but it does cause defects that prevent them from continuing natural evolution.

Sorry but its wrong wrong wrong there is a GOOD reason its illegal in most countries. Some sad people on here get a life and make an effort to find a healthy sex life its not like there is a shortage of people for christ sake.

i already read all comments, yes some poeples love doing sex with family , and me i was wish to try with brother befor but i was afraid to ask or try
now i have son, and too i wish to help him with blowjob
but no idea for staring , if any one have any idea can tell me
thanks

I have a step-sister. She is one year younger than I am. We have never had sex but we hug and kiss and all that stuff. We are much more affectionet with one another than most step-sibs. Just thought I would share.

when i was younger.. like 6 and my sister was 8 we engaged in incest we were so young though we didnt know what it was we would rub are pussys together she was the dominant one and at times made me finger her anally. We were really young so we had no idea what we were doing. It went on for about a year and we would play out scenerios. I know it sounds wrong but i still remember what it felt like to have her eat me out... yummmmmm im still a little bi-curious! im 15 now :) lol dont tell me how wrong it is! i had no idea what was going on back then! neither did she!

ive never gone into full blown incest sex but i have slightly dabbled. i remember back when i was real little like 7 or maybe 8. i tried to get my cousin to roll play sex with me. he is a year younger. he never let me go very far.also about the same time me an my sister who was 5 or 6 at the time would take showers to gether. and i would hump her. thats about as far as i ever went. and im not attracted to any family now. i like incest porn tho i like anything thats concederd weird to most ppl the stranger the horner i get. that does mean all taboo porn. personal msg me if you wanna share porn likes.

They forgot to metion the Westermarck effect. to quote the almighty wikipedia, "Reverse sexual imprinting [(i.e. the Westermarck effect)] is... when two people live in close domestic proximity during the first few years in the life of either one, both are desensitized to later close sexual attraction." This is theorized my many scientists as the cause of the incest taboo.

its wrong. wrong wrong wrong. i had a dream of me havin sex with my 12 year old sister, and i was sick when i woke up. if others want incest then im not gunna judge them or say things like "everyone who agrees with incest is fucked up in the head"... but it is un-questionably wrong...

Being involved in incest for a long time as I have, it does give me joy that so many others have experienced the joy of incest as I have, but it is till a shame that it carries the stigma that it does. When everyone is consenting, understands the nature of the relationship, and is truely connected by the sexual eroticism that close love provides, incest can really make family relationship so much better. I know it has for me.

i do not have a relationship with my sister. i would like one.
it all comes down to a matter of trust, would you like your first sexual experience to be with someone just looking to get in your pants and not into mutual enjoyment. if it has to be a family member either close or distant so be it. if it's one off or continues again so be it.

I disagree with that, my first time was with a girl I loved and the only thing I wanted was her to enjoy herself. Incest is okay in my opinion if both parties are completely ready for it and want it, but you could as well just want to get in your sister's pants, even if you love her.

Well, if your cousin is likely to feel aversion to incest, then just drop that line of thought (exept for fantasising, of course). If you think that she is open, then try to form a relationship with her; don't look on her as being a sex object. If people get hurt when incest happens, then it is nigh impossible to get away from further repercussions.

Ok my stance on this issue. As far as incest being wrong, I believe it is only wrong because society says it's wrong. If you take all other considerations out of the picture and look at sex as what its pure purpose is then how can it be wrong? Sex is for procreation, whether that procreation is with close blood lines or even inter species.
As a species with the ability to place societal values and have opinions on things, we have formed many differing ideas on what is acceptable behaviors. In other species in the animal kingdom incestuous relationships and even procreation are widely accepted and practiced freely in an effort to continue the species. It is only because of our societal influences that this topic is even a discussion. Society, whether it be for religious or other beliefs has made it taboo to have an incestuous relationship. I personally have only ever engaged in a show and tell of sorts with a female first cousin when we were really young and into finding out the different parts between boys and girls. It wasn't exactly a sexual experience but a biology lesson. I dont condemn any one brave enough to experiment with incestuous relationships and have from time to time contemplated them myself. The biggest problem with incestuous relationships, right or wrong debate aside, is that they are like all other relationships and involve 2 human beings with independent thoughts and feelings, things are great while they are great but when it ends someones feelings are hurt. All that being said I do not agree with pedophilia nor abuse, whether its rape between siblings or abuse of the position of power and trust a parent has over their children. Any and all sexual activity must always be consentual!!

A few years ago I was in a relationship with a beautiful lady who was very open minded about sex. To cut a long story short, she discovered me in bed with her 17 year old daughter. Instead of shouting she stripped off and joined us.

Over the next couple of weeks things progressed so that she was evenually having full lesbian sex with her daughter.

Both enjoyed it. Kate, the daughter, encouraged her mother to teach her all she could. We had a great time for a couple of years until Kate went to university.

As long as oth parties consent to it, I don't see any problem with "keeping it in the family". Child abuse is a different matter though.

A few things:
First, that's kindof uncool of you to cheat on her.
Second, even if you have consensual sex with a minor as an adult, then it is considered statuatory rape, and in many places has harsh punishments.
Third, other than that, this story is freaking awesome. That is probebly a lot of guy's dreams come true. If this isn't trolling, then I congratulate you.

Not sure if you know this or not... but "Minor" in countries is different, I'm almost 100% sure 1 of the Baltic countries has like a 13 years old limit on when sex is allowed, the UK it is 16, the US is 18 (I think?), just because it is a minor in your country, does not mean its a minor in another... for all we know, Could have been in the UK (age limit is 16)

Not having a go at you, just saying that he might not be committing statutory rape.

i know in the US each state has different consent ages. like the state i live in the consent without parents approval is 16 as long as they are 16 the parents have no say in it anymore could be a 16 year old girl giving consent to a 45 year old man as long as she give consent its no charges against either one. i know a coulpe states that hve consent ages at 15,16,17, and 18. like i had sex with my now step father who was dating my mom at the time he was 40 and i was 16, and i gave consent cause he is so hot! and i nor my mom nor he cause be jailed for any of it.

I had an incest relationship with my brother for 3 years. i was 13 when we started he was 16. it lasted 3 years. It started off by him teaching me how to jerk off, and moved on to blowjobs and other play. It was one of the better things to happen to me in my life. He really knew how to please me!

I have had dreams about me getting on top of my father and rubbing my pussy against his penis but have never done it. I have experimented with my niece who is only a few years younger than I going down on each other. I have also had dreams about my sisters and mom all having sex and using vibrators on each other. I think the more dirty something seems the more I get turned on.

Recently I experimented with my brother and let him go down on me, and one thing led to another. The next thing you know, he came all over me and it was fantastic. I have to say, i use to look down on incest, but now I think otherwise.

Me and my family are all comfortable in the nude. We can just sit around all day naked together. However at my dads house every time I see my stepmom in a thong and bra or naked I get a major hardon. I just wanna sit down and screw her sensless is that bad?

In my opinion incest is distasteful and disgusting. It's just ghetto! It's fun role playing that way, you know [which has been my fantasy since my boyfriend is way older than me, not* because I like my dad in that sort of way. That would be just fucked up]... But that [your non-blood-related boyfriend] is your "other father/mother" know what I mean?
I don't know I always hear about people getting rapped by they're fathers, or uncles, some times even aunties... it's sad. The only way I can think of a daughter ever falling in love with her dad is because he brainwashed her into loving him etc. It's sick!!!! I got nothing else to say, that's just nasty. PERIOD.

With age comes moderation. When younger, I was staunchly against anything even resembling incest. Partly from religious beliefs (which may or may not have valid origins), and largely belief that it could result in degenerative effects (debatably unproven).

All I can say is, examine where your attitudes and beliefs come from. Often times they come from accepted values and beliefs rather than logical and unprejudiced thinking. Sure, don't just use the weak logic that if it feels good do it, but at the same time, don't accept things just because they've always been so.

Paedophilia is a definite wrong to me, and for strong logical reasons. But incest between consenting adults is a different matter.

There's only two issues I have with sexuality. Paedophilia is of course one. The other is, when does a person become an adult? In many non-western societies, adulthood begins much earlier. Often too comes the person's mature attitudes towards a range of things. So perhaps in those societies, adult choices a younger ages are acceptable.

But in our western societies, people mature much later and often make very immature choices well past any legal age (and not just about sex). But that's another topic.

To my mind, the only downsides to incest between consenting people are these: 1. The negative backlash socially. And 2. That it could create a hunger in one or both parties that could thwart other possible relationships down the track.